USF signee Dorminy headed to HCC instead

Former Alonso left-hander Thomas Dorminy, a USF signee who was the Times' All-Suncoast Pitcher of the Year in 2009, won't be playing for the Bulls and will instead pitch at Hillsborough Community College next spring, giving himself a chance to be drafted sooner.

Had Dorminy started classes at USF this week, he wouldn't have been draft eligible until after three seasons with the Bulls; junior college players are draft-eligible every year. After a dominating junior year (12-0, 1.04 ERA, 121 Ks), Dorminy took a step back as a senior, going 7-4 with a 2.33 ERA and 72 strikeouts, settling for a spot on the Times' all-county team.

Dorminy, who also hit .326 at Alonso this spring, will have a chance to pitch and hit at HCC. While he wasn't drafted at all in the 50 rounds of last month's draft, a solid freshman year at HCC could get him drafted and playing in the minors next summer.

Dorminy is the third USF signee who won't make it to campus -- another prep lefty, Kyle Ryan, and junior college infielder Austin Knight were drafted and signed with the Tigers and Orioles, respectively. Juniors Stephen Hunt (Reds) and Eric Sim (Giants) also were drafted and signed. Junior pitchers Randy Fontanez and Andrew Barbosa were drafted but have not signed, and coach Lelo Prado is optimistic both will return for their senior year; the Bulls are also waiting for decisions from drafted signees Kyle Waldrop, James Ramsay and Nick Gonzalez.

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